Twitter Suspends Critic of NBC’s Olympics Coverage

Guy Adams, the Independent’s Los Angeles bureau chief, says his Twitter account was suspended after allegedly breaking Twitter’s privacy rules by publishing the email of the NBC Olympics chief and encouraging people to email their complaints.

Adams published the email address of NBC’s Olympics President Gary Zenkel after NBC decided not to run the opening ceremony live. Throughout the opening ceremony, Adams was openly critical of NBC’s Olympics coverage on his Twitter feed, @guyadams. NBC is an official partner of Twitter for the London Games, although there is currently no indication that this relationship has played a part in Twitter’s decision.

Twitter said that they won’t comment on individual accounts or suspension. But in an email exchange forwarded to The Wall Street Journal by Guy Adams, Twitter states that his account was suspended because it was “a violation of the Twitter Rules to post the private and confidential information of others.”

However, Adams argues that the address he published was in fact public and available to “anyone with access to Google.”

Twitter’s policy does indeed state that, “If information was previously posted or displayed elsewhere on the Internet prior to being put on Twitter, it is not a violation of this policy.”

Adams has suggested to Twitter that NBC’s complaint and their subsequent suspension of his account was motivated by his negative comments of their coverage, which included an article in the Independent.

An NBC Sports spokesperson said, “We filed a complaint with Twitter because a user tweeted the personal information of one of our executives. According to Twitter, this is a violation of their privacy policy. Twitter alone levies discipline.”

Comments (5 of 15)

Follow the money.....Who owns NBC? Why can't we watch the Olympics online if we do not subscribe to cable tv?

Comcast is the wizard behind all of this.

7:52 pm July 30, 2012

Merrill Guice wrote:

Google gary.zenkel@nbcuni.com and get "About 47,800 results". I imagine that wasn't the case BEFORE NBC complained. Now all we need is the name of Gary Zenkel's first pet.

7:32 pm July 30, 2012

Herb Spencer wrote:

NBC, Listen to your viewers, LEARN from your viewers! Like when they suggest, at your own invitation, how better camera angles would give active swimmers the chance to improve their strokes by watching the Olympians', instead of just shooting them like a bunch of runners in a footrace might /

7:21 pm July 30, 2012

Jeremy wrote:

Shame on Twitter; who like to parade theiir free speech credentials, until a commerical partner pressurises them into censorship, that is.

Damaging for both companies.

PS NBC's coverage sucks. Twitter would be a complete waste of time, but for the fall out that arises from hasty, ill-considered tweets.

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